


Separation of Mind and History

by MetasActReon



Category: Captain Underpants Series - Dav Pilkey, Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017), The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, raw emotion, separation au, where Underpants and Krupp can separate themselves for short periods of time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-12
Updated: 2020-01-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:20:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22221700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MetasActReon/pseuds/MetasActReon
Summary: Benjamin Krupp and Captain Underpants have been coexisting for quite a while now, and even discovered a way to seperate themselves for short periods of time. Things have been going pretty well, Krupp was no longer as lonely as he use to be, and the caped crusader didn't have to feel guilty reading notes about how sore all these fights was leaving his less pain tolerant counterpart.But things aren't perfect. The two personalities get to see things that they never thought they'd see. Krupp gets to see a hero that so many love save the school, and Captain Underpants gets to interact with the man he was created within.Captain Underpants comes home after a fun outing to find a drunk and upset Ben Krupp.To make a long summary short,emotions well up and some hidden insecurities get revealed.
Relationships: Captain Underpants & Mr. Krupp
Comments: 5
Kudos: 33





	Separation of Mind and History

**Author's Note:**

> This one-shot is inspired by a picture (below) that angerydj.tumblr.com made based on their "Separation AU"  
> 

["You can make everyone love you, without even trying— I could never do that! So I became the asshole principal that everyone is scared of! That everyone hates!"]

Just as it seemed the storm of an outburst had passed, Krupp turned and gestured wildly to nothing. “It’s not like— You didn’t have a family to screw you up! My mom, my mother, she— I was just another farmhand to her! Oh, but if I had somethin' of my own, somethin' tha’s mine, she’d show up to ruin it alright. No talent shows, no-no-no fun. Kids aren’t supposed to have fun, it’supposta be dutiful and follow the adults and what they want.” Krupp seemed to stare at the dark TV in the living room, huffing as if he had just tried to climb one flight of stairs. He seemed calm, thoughtful...

The Captain, on the other hand, was frozen stiff, completely afraid to move. Krupp seemed agitated, revealing some sort of depressing backstory monologue, though that seemed to be more typical to a kind of villain that Captain Underpants very seldom faced. Why would Krupp of all people—

“And you”—Krupp suddenly turned with sharp teeth, pointing an unsteady finger at the waistband warrior, who jumped backwards—”you just get a clean slate, get a very own fantasy reality where all ya do is fight villains, be a hero, and have _fun_ with kids,” Krupp spat.

Captain Underpants took another step back, trembling. He had faced many angry villains, but an angry someone that wasn’t evil or controlled? An angry someone he knew and loved? He couldn’t recall any other time something like this happened. He had no idea what to do. 

With a wavering voice, the Captain risked a timid little, _“Benny?”_

Krupp grimaced. “If I di’n’t haf’ta live in reality, I coulda been like you, been happy and fun an’ liked… I coulda had friends, be happy and perfect an' obliv'ous…” Krupp shook his head, slowly so as to not make himself dizzy. He started heading for the bedroom. “Thissiz,” the drunk man mumbled, and stopped, furrowing his brow, before returning to his uneasy saunter. “You gets to be loved, but everyone hates me…” He took another swig from his drink before slamming the door behind him, causing Underpants to flinch.

Captain Underpants stared at the bedroom door, mulling over what was said. His slow mind worked hard to make sense of what was wrong, what was hurting Krupp so much.

The day had been going so well up until now. George and Harold had him come to the tree house to come up with some ideas for new undergarment based catch phrase ideas (straight from the man himself, what brilliant boys) and to fill him in on a few more plots that they were thinking about working on. On his way back, he stopped a purse theft and came home humming his theme song. And then Krupp left the kitchen, looked at him with scary eyes, smelling strongly of the alcohol he likes to drink, and then lost it.

The superhero shook his head again, trying to focus against all odds. Krupp was feeling bad about… his origin story. What made him, well, mean old Principal Krupp.

The Captain approached the bedroom door, tried to knock on it, chickened out, and opted to sit against it, back to door. He wrung a corner of his cape in his hands, his smile long gone and replaced with a determined but scared straight face, his brow low and his nose slightly wrinkled. “My origin story isn’t real,” he muttered, before clearing his throat. Krupp needed to hear him. Underpants took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down a bit more before trying again. “My origin story isn’t real. My parents, my home planet, my step parents… none of it…”

The superhero hadn’t talked about this before, and he worried his cape between thumb and forefinger for a moment before returning to the two handed wringing motion. When he first learned of Krupp, the original owner of his body… He hadn’t really understood it, and it didn’t feel real… but then… then it really hit a little while after they had figured out how to split up that… none of it was real before… his memories before he met George and Harold.

“I’m… I don’t know how to feel about being so… fake,” he stated, his voice lowering again, but Krupp was near the door, listening intently. “I… I try to ignore it, usually. Pretty easy being, well… a buffoon…” Melvin had called him that, and other things like it before. Wasn’t hard to figure out what it meant, and then recognize how everyone else agreed with that to one extent or another. “But, I am… A hero shouldn’t lie, but… it feels like I was built on one… I guess I was… The kids lied to you and got me…”

Captain Underpants wiped the tears in his eyes before blowing his nose on his cape. “You deserve to be loved, more than me. The original is supposed to be worth more, after all… I’m the intruder in your mind, your life… I guess… I’m the villain in your story, huh?” He sniffled hard, on the verge of sobbing. “I-I want to be your hero, but it’s just another lie, isn’t i—”

The door opened behind him, causing the emotional hero to suddenly tumble backwards. Captain Underpants blinked from his splayed position on the floor, staring up at Benjamin Krupp with wide watery eyes.

“You’re not a fake,” Krupp stated. His face looked serious even though it was reddened by the alcohol and maybe a little something else. “You’re… You’re a real hero to me.”

**Author's Note:**

> So, I am not dead, just been dealing with life and writer's block. Hopefully this is a sign that my writer's block is passing and I can finally get back to Puddles. I've finally gotten into Captain Underpants recently, but I doubt I'll write more for it than this here. If you haven't watched it (movie or series) yet and have an appreciation for toilet humor, I recommend doing so.


End file.
